Dunkin’ Donuts Park, home of the Double-A Hartford Yard Goats baseball team, is targeting families as a major customer base, hoping to draw in parents and their children for a fun-filled, entertaining experience.
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Dunkin' Donuts Park, home of the Double-A Hartford Yard Goats baseball team, is targeting families as a major customer base, hoping to draw in parents and their children for a fun-filled, entertaining experience.
Early on, the team is proving itself as a viable family destination, having sold out its opening day game April 13. Is it perfect? Not quite, but it's off to a strong start.
Hartford Business Journal freelance writer Keith Griffin recently went to experience the “family” atmosphere of the $71-million publicly financed stadium with his wife, two children, ages 9 and 12, and other family members, for their perspective.
Here are their collective thoughts after seeing the Yard Goats lose to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats on April 15.
Cost
Is it cheap? Some parts of the stadium are, and some parts aren't. Four seats, plus fees, behind home plate for example, will cost you $67 if you purchase tickets online. It's cheaper if you pay at the box office, team officials said.
Plan on another $60 for food and drink (on the conservative side) and you're looking at up to a $125 family experience with the best seats.
You can find seats in left field at a lot of games for as little as $6 each. It's not a big park so you're not far from the action, and you're near kid-friendly entertainment.
Parking
The $5 parking fee negotiated by the Yard Goats with LAZ Parking is cheap. The lots are within easy walking distance to the stadium. The most efficient lot is at the corner of Morgan and Main streets. It's a flat five-minute walk to the stadium over I-84.
At that low price, it makes no sense for families to take CTfastrak to the game. A family of four would pay $15 for the bus versus $5 for parking.
One complaint about the parking? Know where you're going before leaving your home. The signage wasn't great April 15th. Posted street signs do a murky job pointing you in the right direction.
The stadium
It's an easily accessible space. All of the staff was accommodating and friendly. They would apologize if they couldn't answer questions and point you to someone who could. Plus, you can walk around the entire stadium to see the game from many different perspectives. It's a major league space.
There's also the Travelers Kids Zone with an inflatable slide, basketball hoops, and a pitching game. Prices range from $1 for one game to $5 for six to unlimited for $10, which is the best investment.
Food and drink
It ranges from the typical hot dog and a soda, which will set you back $7, up to the Dunkin' Donuts Park BLT and a large premium draft beer. That combo's going to cost you $22. Our dinner tab was $45.50 for two small premium drafts, nachos, cheeseburger, hot dog, two lemonades, and that fancy BLT. It's made with two glazed donuts, bacon, lettuce and tomato. It's the equivalent of the Big E meeting minor league baseball.
How's the food? It's baseball-stadium quality. One person in our group joked the Yard Goats burger, made with goat cheese, arugula, bacon and caramelized onions for $8, tasted like it was made with goat.
The service was almost good. That $10 donut sandwich took a long time to arrive — and only after a reminder. Otherwise, the line moved quickly. Bear's Smokehouse on the left field side was a popular spot with longer lines.
Odds and ends
Just a few last observations about the experience:
• Our game had a 6:05 p.m. start, which seems perfect for families because you're out by around 9 p.m. Most other games start at 7:05 p.m., which some families might find too late.
• The Yard Goats rallying cry needs some work. It's a video of a live goat bleating at full volume. It sounds like the goat is choking on a popcorn husk. We implore you, go with a cartoon goat making cartoon bleats.
•The in-stadium video needs to be synced better with its audio. After a while, we stopped watching the roving reporter because we couldn't understand her. That diminishes whatever she promotes.
• The Dunkin' Donuts Cup in left field didn't blow steam on April 15th for home runs. It's one of the biggest symbols of the corporate sponsor.
